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Opening Day
Freaking finally. I know this is a football forum but there's some Braves fans lurking around too I bet. Sports books set the O/U for the season at 86.5 wins, but I think we beat it. Atlanta has three legitimate MVP-caliber players in Acuna, Donaldson, and Freeman, and they just happen to bat 1-2-3 in the lineup. There's a lot of young or unproven pitching, but my bet is the offense can just outhit enough teams to keep the Braves steady while we wait for the young guns to grow up.
Acuna wins MVP. Phillies finish 3rd in the division. Acuna, JD, and Free combine for 250 RBIs and 65 homers. Braves defeat Boston Red Sox 4-2 in the World Series.
Comments
Chop On
I would love for the overspending Philies to finish 3rd in the East and miss the playoffs. I would chortle out loud. Same for Yankees and Dodgers whenever possible. Love to see them waste $$$.
I'm fired up!
Nothing like opening day. Just FYI they're batting Acuna 4th. Lots of debate about that among experts and fans, old-school vs. new-school. Hope Donaldson can give us something. Can't wait to see Kyle Wright on the mound. Glad Glavine spoke up about Liberty Media (aka the worst owner in MLB). Wish I had a subscription to The Athletic so I could read the full article.
That's all I got. Go Braves!
I am filled with chagrin. Completely forgot Acuna is batting cleanup this year, but my point stands. Top of our lineup is dynamite ya'll. As far as Liberty Media, I wish they would have done more, but I did hear an interesting opinion about why they might have kept those purse strings tightened. Money that could have been spent on big names HAS to be spent on Acuna and Albies, dependent on how he does going forward. There's probably not one or two players I would give up Acuna for in the entire league. Also, better to have some cash at the trade deadline than need money and not have it.
If we had gone out and gotten a proven dependable free-agent pitcher, I would be much happier. As is, I'm excited to see guys like Wright, Fried, and Soroka when he gets healthy.
Starting pitching is thin and dicey. Just a just months back a poster or 2 was calling for trading some of the excess young arms for position players...let's don't.
Firing the pitching coach that had a top 6 staff in favor of somebody who hasn't had much success in a lot of years seemed nuts to me at the time he. Now that half the young staff is already injured it seems even nuttier.
In a couple of years maybe we'll have a clear picture of which starters are the future and deal some, till then, let's see how it shakes out.
I expect a little bit of a mediocre start as the pitching will take to time to settle in. I think if they can hang around early that this team could make a great mid-summer run.
@CTDawg If I own the Braves I sign Craig Kimbrel today. Whatever he's asking. That would transform the bullpen (our biggest weakness), energize the fan base, and send a message to the players that ownership is serious about winning. It would also have zero impact on their ability to sign Acuna and Albies to long term deals, or to make another move at the trade deadline.
CTDawg. Liberty doesn't give a **** about winning and losing except how it affects their bottom line.
They have conned everybody from Cobb tax payers to much of the fan base.
I’ll let this fire y’all up even more https://twitter.com/braves/status/1111056611911614464?s=21
Atlanta is a growing market. I wish Liberty would sell to an individual who would spend money and bring the excitement of the 90s back to the A. The people in GA would rally around the Braves if they would show some consistency. (I'm not one of those fairweatherers, the Braves are team 1b to me after the Dawgs)
We would never be able to spend like LA, Chicago, New York, Boston, & Philly, but there's no reason we shouldn't spend like the teams in the next tier down.
This should be an exciting season and I cannot wait to watch Acuna develop as a player.
Chop On!
The main reason he hasn't signed yet is he was made a large qualifying offer, meaning any team signing him would have to give up their first round draft pick. I believe he will sign May 1.
Kimbrel is also insisting on a long term contract at 10 million per season. He is a 30 year old relief pitcher, I doubt he gets what he's asking for.
Also The Braves jumped to 8th in revenue in MLB in 2017, I'm betting they brought in even more last season. They are not poor, Liberty just poor mouths.
While they were 8th only 5 teams, The Skanks, The Dodgers, The Cubs, The Red Sox and The Giants brought in enough more to make a difference.
Edit. The Braves jumped from 336 million in revenue in 2017 all the way to 404 million last season. Other than The Skanks, Dodgers, Cubs and Red Sox, they are in better fiscal shape than most. They bring in more than the high spending Phillies.
Hope it is with the Braves. The domino effect on the bullpen would be aignificant.
If Swanson can stay healthy and hit .280 then this team doesnt have any real holes in the lineup.
One disagreement - 65 dingers from Acuna, JD, and Freeman would be a disappointment. That number is 85. - 30, 30, and 25
I actually like Kimbrel a little better on a shortened season. He seemed to run out of gas towards the end of last year.
WC, I would be hesitant to go longer than 3-4 years on him. He does get a little credit for having started his career here and more fans here.
@WCDawg I agree with your assessment of Liberty, but don't buy what the Atlanta media has been selling regarding the move to Cobb County. That's nothing but a negative PR campaign based purely on politics.
Another - The area used for The Stadium development was an extremely valuable tract of land. It's not a zero sum deal, Cobb could have made deals that weren't so favorable to the other side.
While much of the most profitable developments were split off to a separate company that doesn't benefit The Braves even a nickel, Liberty also ''charged'' The Braves 200 million for The Battery. This has always been a real estate business for Liberty Media. Heck, they literally were paid to take The Braves after tax incentives were factored in. Not only did the team not cost them a dime, they made around a 30 million dollar windfall above the selling price.
I agree with most of your assertions. I also know the Cobb County citizens are very informed on these issues, and very happy with the deal. It's called a win-win.
If I remember correctly, wasn't there a significant incentive for Liberty to hold on to the Braves for significant amount of time?
Hard for me to find fault with shrewd business decisions. It’s the job of fans to determine whether or not to support the team, and the fans are free to use whatever criteria they choose in making those decisions. The fact Libwrty has made out like gangbusters doesnt make them bad owners or bad people. In the end, it’s a business. Fans would just prefer a Cuban type owner who thinks winning a major aports championahip will make him look cool.
As for that property in Cobb - yes, it was valuable property but it was destined to be office and apartments without the stadium. It would have never produced the tax revenue of the Battery and Suntrust Park.
It's only a win if you look at an empty tract of land vs what was developed. It wasn't like Chavez Ravine where The Dodgers built on waste property, it was probably the largest prime tract of undeveloped land in the metro area. What could have been made from the property ? that should be the question.